Hubris
by marchi
Summary: Being both a budding teenager and a vampire, everything seems complicated to Zero. In his time of recovery, it takes little for him to brush a consoling hand away.


Hubris

By marchi

Note: Please tell me what you think!

Her face was buried in his coat. It was cold and she didn't want him to leave yet. She wanted to drown in his scent.

Kaname had just come from the Chairman's study after discussing arrangements for the upcoming Night Class.

She looked up at him. He looked back at her, pensive.

Then he smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Yuuki," he said.

* * *

"Well, so long Chairman," Nagamichi Aido was saying outside the door, his Audi just waiting outside to take him in. A snowstorm was starting to fall outside.

"See you again. I'll take good care of your son," the Chairman replied.

Yuuki peeked at them from behind a wall. She was long done with her homework and had watched them drinking wine from clear goblets while talking about the first Night Class to be initiated in a few years and the entrance of Aidou's son.

The cold breeze was gone once the Chairman closed the door. There was a pleasant smile on his face as he cleared the living room table and brought its contents to the kitchen.

He caught sight of her as he placed bottles in the fridge and washed the dishes. After a moment he shook his head, looking thoughtful.

"That Kaname really should be around here more," he muttered to himself.

Sitting at the base of the stairs she watched as the Chairman hummed a tune before making his way into his study.

At once she tiptoed to the fridge. Curious, she took the bottle of wine that Aidou had given to the chairman and made herself a glass.

She was taken by surprise at the taste when she took a gulp from the goblet, getting drops on her wrist. In a reflex she brought her hands away from her body, spilling some on the floor.

She was bringing her wrist to her mouth, her eyes on the droplets.

"What are you doing?"

Yuuki turned around to see Zero standing frozen at the kitchen doorway.

Feeling caught in the act, she forced a smile at Zero.

"I was just tasting it," Yuuki replied, pouring the rest of the wine from her goblet on the sink.

She turned around, unsure of what to do as Zero stood there in the doorway. She barely perceived the slight twitches from his hand. Then looking disturbed, he made himself a glass of milk and disappeared once again into his room.

* * *

Zero shut his bedroom door. He had to calm himself. He put his fingers to his forehead, frustrated at his behavior. What was going on in his head? He just couldn't help it. Yuuki had taken him aback when he suddenly found her licking a dark blot on her own hand.

He'd thought she was drinking her own blood. Clicking his tongue, he climbed into his bed, feeling worse than ever.

For the whole day he'd been shut in his room, feeling weak and having caught a cold. He was disgusted with the blood tablets and wouldn't drink them. For a few days he thought he was getting used to not drinking when he started to feel dull.

He put an arm over his forehead. He couldn't see anything outside and his window slightly shook from the current snowstorm. He wanted to feel comforted. He closed his eyes.

He remembered the days when he hardly ever had a bed to himself. He'd grown far used to Ichiru sleeping close to him, the covers pulled up to their necks. It was cozy then.

Now though, he was in a vastly different situation. He was completely displaced from his normal comfort zone. From time to time he felt uneasy of his new surroundings.

Zero sighed. He wished he had something familiar around.

The memory of Yuuki and her comforting hand on his hair as he went to sleep suddenly came to mind.

For a moment his body relaxed. The thought of what happened that night soothed his nerves. Though there were some nagging questions in his head.

_Why did I let her do that?_

It was absurd. Because in truth, he could admit to himself that he hated everyone.

His expression turned acid as he thought about his brother, and of that woman. Zero didn't even want to think of her name. Pure hatred coursed through his veins at the thought of her.

Now what was left of him was a shell. A flaming, brittle, hateful shell. Now everyone around him seemed to be deceitful crooks, wolves in sheep's clothing, just waiting to desert him and hurt him once more.

For the thousandth time he wondered in agony, in a fruitless attempt to make sense of things.

Now, there was this girl whom he starting to allow to be closer. It was comforting, and he was used to it since she reminded him of Ichiru.

But then when he pictured her on his head he couldn't help but place that dark-haired pureblood right next to her. The first time he saw them together, he thought she was welcoming a relative, since she looked so much in place when she stood beside him.

Zero opened his eyes, staring blearily at the ceiling.

Ichiru was taken away by a pureblood. Now he was living in close quarters with a girl who wouldn't leave him alone, who, once he relaxed around her, turned out to be close to a pureblood.

He couldn't understand why the people who he was near to somehow had strong bonds with the kind of creature that he hated the most.

_Although_, Zero thought, _there's no way she'd leave with him, like what happened with Ichiru. _This man seemed busily involved in an institution. At most, he merely entertained the little girl who liked him whenever he had to visit the Chairman.

He turned on his side, slowly running his hand through his hair. His eyes drifting half-closed, he slided it to his neck. He pressed hard and let his nails dig in on the intricate tattoo on his neck. He dragged his fingers along, leaving an inflamed trail on his skin.

A bead of blood started to form around his fingertips. Then he brought them to his mouth and licked.

That woman took his brother away, leaving him alone with nothing.

That woman, with her delicate features and her quiet person as she smiled at him, while holding his brother's hand. Somehow they resembled each other so well. They looked like they belonged together...

Absentmindedly the thoughts swirled in his head. _Ichiru is gone._ But he would welcome the warmth that came from this girl. She would take his place.

In fact, he thought, relishing the taste of his own blood. He wouldn't find it strange if right now she opened his door without knocking and climbed into bed with him.

* * *

There was a knock on the door. He knew who it was. He propped himself on his elbow in anticipation.

The door opened and Yuuki peeked in, then she slowly let herself in, the light in the hallway outlining her silhouette.

"Um... Your meds, Zero. It's time."

He rubbed his eyes. "Okay," Zero said.

Yuuki paused at his friendly tone. She walked closer, setting the glass and tablet at his bedside table.

Zero drank it. "Thanks," he said, looking her in the eye.

Yuuki paused thoughtfully in front of him. Zero seemed to be unusually at ease.

Sensing that he was in a good mood, she suddenly felt eager for someone her age to talk to. She sat on the chair on his bedside.

But she was at a loss for words. His eyes reflected the dull lamplight and she looked away.

She noticed again how unusually frail he looked.

Zero slowly let himself lie, pulling the thick covers tight around him. He exhaled, somehow suddenly exhausted.

"You all right?" She reached out a hand and felt his forehead. It was burning. To her it was comfortably warm though, because of the surrounding cold.

"Keep your hand there," he said. He was feeling so heavy and he felt like the throbbing in his head dulled with the contact of her hand.

He was starting to drift back to sleep when he suddenly tensed. As he breathed he took in her scent. There was something foreign about her. Then he found that she smelled just like Kuran. Was he here a while ago? Her hand left his burning forehead, making its way to the sheets near his neck.

He opened his eyes again to find a dark blot on Yuuki's finger. He stared fixated on it before he recognized his own blood.

"Zero, you're bleeding."

She was looking worried and when their eyes met, it didn't take long for her to sense something was amiss.

Trying to forestall what he really wanted to say, he shifted, inching away from her hand. He hid his face.

Yuuki retrieved her hand and held it close.

"Get out," he murmured against his pillow.

Her face made the slightest of contortions. It took her a moment to pause, then in a look of resigned understanding she slowly stood up, smoothing creases on her clothes, before she quietly left the room.


End file.
